Minister of Energy and Business Development Kerrie Symmonds has criticised Barbados’ financial sector for being risk averse and lacking care and ingenuity when it comes to granting loans to small businesses.In a frank, exclusive interview with Barbados TODAY, he said lending institutions were falling short, failing to recognise and accept non-traditional forms of assets when demanding collateral from entrepreneurs.“I think that the financial institutions are going to be forced to come around to the reality that, as with everybody else, it cannot be business as usual…. I think some people in this country are tone deaf, people in high places have started to get a little bit tone deaf,” he said.“...We have to find ways of emancipating ourselves from financial institutions that are just being too sluggish and unresponsive, and are, quite frankly, risk averse,” Symmonds added.
